Spring-wheel.



B. P. HANSON.

SPRING WHEEL.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.17,1911.

1,036,097. v PatentedAug.20,1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

WITNESSES.- I g tlzvggvgog Affomey Patented Aug.20, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES:

BENNIE P. HANSON, OF ELMORE, MINNESOTA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO CHARLESD.

WILLIAMS, OF ELMORE, MINNESOTA.

SPRING-WHEEL.

I Application filed November 17, 1911.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BENNIE P. HANSON, citizen of the United States,residing at Elmore, in the county of Faribault and State of Minnesota,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Spring- WVheels;and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescrip tion of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to wheels and more particularly to that class ofwheels known as spring wheels.

An object of the invention is to provide a wheel with a main or centralportion having a circumferential groove and a felly spaced therefrom andconnected by means of a series of curved springs having inner endspivoted within the circumferential groove while their outer ends arepivoted between bracket ears carried upon the inner face of the folly.

Another object is to provide a wheel of this character, portions ofwhich may be composed of metal while the other parts consist of woodserving to space the metall1c parts from one another and thus produce awheel which will be noiseless in use.

Another object is to produce a wheel of the above stated character whichwill effectively absorb all shocks and which will have the metallicparts spaced from one another to prevent frictional contact thereof, thewheel also being constructed in such manner that the bending of thecurved springs will be limited.

Another object is to provide a resilient wheel of this type which willbe adapted for use upon motor vehicles, carriages, etc., and which maybe employed in connection with any form of hub or axle.

Other objects and advantages will be hereinafter set forth and pointedout in the specification and claim.

In the accompanying drawings which are made a part of this application,Figure 1, is an elevational view of the wheel. and,

Fig. 2, is a cross sectional view on the line 22 ofFig. 1, Fig. 3, is aview similar to Fig. 1, showing a slightly modified form,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 20, 1912.

Serial No. 660,777.

and, Fig. 4, is a cross sectional view on the line 4-4, Fig. 3.

Referring more particularly to the drawings in which similar referencenumerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, 1represents a metallic hub of ordinary form having the circular flange 2integral therewith near one end and extending at a right angle thereto,while 3 is a removable flange or ring which is adapted to be securedupon the hub near the end opposite to that upon which the flange 2: isintegral.

Between the flanges 2 and 3 is placed. a solid member or filling 4provided with a circular central opening 5 to accommodate the hub 1. Themember 4 is held in position by means of the bolts 6 passed therethroughand through the flanges 2 and 3, said bolts also serving to hold orretain the flange 3 in proper position parallel with the flange 2. Itwill be understood that suitable nuts 7 or other means may be securedupon the threaded ends of the bolts 6 to prevent the latter from workingout of place.

The solid member 4 may be composed of any suitable material preferablywood and secured upon opposite sides of this member near the peripherythereof are the metallic rings 8 which extend for some distancebeyondthe periphery of the member 4 and are held in position by suitable boltsor other securing means 9- passed therethrough and through the member 4.By extending the rings 8 beyond the periphery of the solid member 4 acircumferential groove or channel 11 is provided around the member 4 andprojecting through this channel or groove are the pivot bolts 10 whichare secured through the rings 8 near the outer edges thereof and uponthe pivot bolts 10, within the channel 11' are fastened the turned innerends 12 ofthe curved springs 13. The outer turned ends 13 of the curvedsprings 13 are fastened around the pivot bolts 14, between the cars 15of the brackets 16, which latter are suitably secured to the inner faceof the telly 17. The fel'ly 17 is preferably composed of wood or otherlike material and may have a flat rim; 18 seare located at each fourththe distance around the solid member 4, said springs being arranged inpairs and the springs of each pair being oppositely bowed. The innerends of these springs are secured upon the proper pivot bolts 10 whiletheir outer ends are similarly fastened over the pivot bolts 14 directlyand diametrically opposite pivot bolts 10 to which the inner ends ofsaid springs are secured. It will be seen that by this arrangement ofcurved springs 13 and bowed springs 19 there will be one curved spring13 working through each pair of bowed springs 19 and the outer ends ofeach pair of bowed springs will be secured to the same pivot bolt 14 asthe outer end of one curved spring 13 while the inner ends of said bowedsprings will be carried by the same pivot bolt 10 as is the inner end ofthe second curved spring 13 from the first mentioned curved spring 13.Thus it will be evident that the resilient movement of the curvedsprings 13 and the giving thereof will be limited by the bowed springs19. The bowed springs 19, however, will not afford any jerky actions ofthe springs 13, but will tend to increase the efficiency thereof. Thesolid wood member 4 serves to space the metallic springs 13 and 19 fromthe metallic hub 1 and the wood felly 17 spaces the springs 13 and 19from the rim orv tire 18. As the springs 13 work freely through thebowed springs 19 and said springs 13 and 19 are spaced from the othermetallic parts of the wheel, it will be evident that said wheel will benoiseless when in use.

The springs 13 and 19 may be formed of any suitable metal and ifdesired, the flat rings 8 may be increased or decreased in width or maybe dispensed with and metallic plates substituted, said plates, if usedshould extend for about the same distance beyond the periphery of thesolid member 4 as do the rings 8. The diameter of the solid member 4 mayalso be increased or decreased, if desired. The varying of the diameterof the solid member 4 will, however, also necessitate shortening orlengthening of the springs 13 and 19.

The second or modified form shown in Figs. 3 and 4 comprises an innerhub 20 having parallel flanges 21 projecting therefrom, between whichthe inner ends of the spokes 22 are secured by means of suitable bolts23 passed through the flanges 21 preferably between the spokes 22. Theouter ends of the spokes 22 are reduced, as shown at 24 and secured inthe sockets 25 provided therefor, on the inner face of the hoop 26,which latter is preferably formed of suitable metal and has pairs ofperforated ears 27 projecting outwardly from the opposite edges thereofto receive the bolts 28. The hub 20, flanges 21, spokes 22, bolts 23 andhoop 26 carrying the socket 25 and ears 27, form an inner wheel, as willbe later clearly understood. The inner wheel is connected with the felly29 and the outer wheel, which has a diameter much greater than that ofthe hoop 26, by means of the curved springs 30 having their inner endssecured around the bolts 28 between the ears 27 and their outer endswrapped around the bolts 31 positioned through the pairs of ears 32directed toward the hoop 26 and integral with the felly 29 of the outerwheel. The complete outer wheel comprises the felly 29 carrying the ears32 and the flanges 33, and the tire 34 positioned between the flanges 33which are directed outwardly, in the usual manner for receiving the tire34 therebetween. In this construction, the curved springs 30, which areshorter than in the first form, extend only about half as far betweenthe parts carrying the bolts to which the opposite ends of the springsare secured. It will also be noted that the bowed springs 19 aredispensed with in this second form and that the inner ends of the curvedsprings and the bolts to which said inner springs are secured are muchnarrower than the outer ends of the adjacent springs and those to whichsaid outer ends are secured.

The construction and operation of both forms is identically the same,the only dif ference being in the exact detail of construction of theminor parts and the varying in dimensions of the principal parts. Itwill also be evident that any form of hub may be employed and that thisconstruction of resilient wheel may be adapted for use upon motorvehicles, carriages, wagons, or in fact for any purpose for which aresilient wheel may be desired.

Owing to the extreme simplicity of this construction and simpleformation of the small number of parts employed, the entire wheel may bemanufactured at a small cost and should any of the parts become worn orbroken they may be readily and cheaply replaced.

What I claim is:

A resilient wheel comprising a hub, a block surrounding said hub andhaving a circumferential groove, pivotal points secured through thewalls of said groove, a felly carrying brackets upon its inner face,radially disposed spring spokes pivoted to either side of the wheelbetween said pivotal points and brackets and having the central I nameto this specification in the presence of portions thereof curvedoutwardly from a two subscribing witnesses. radial plane of the wheel,curved springs BENNIE P HANSON pivoted between said pivotal points andbrackets and disposed between said spring Witnesses:

C. D. WILLIAMS,

spokes.

In testimony whereof I have signed my H. E. ABBOTT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

